Kansas City Royals messed up by trading Joakim Soria
Last offseason the Kansas City Royals opted to trade reliever Joakim Soria to the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox got a pretty decent haul in return for Soria’s services.
From 2007-2010, Joakim Soria was one of the few members of the Kansas City Royals worth watching. He made it to two All-Star Games during that time and had 160 saves during that time.
When Soria rejoined the boys in blue after they won the World Series, fans figured it was just another solid arm being added to the bullpen. It wasn’t close to that though, as Soria struggled from the get-go in 2016.
Arguments could certainly be made that were it not for Soria in 2016, the Royals would have had a legitimate chance of making the playoffs that year. He blew that many opportunities whenever he’d toe the slab.
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After 2017 wrapped up, the Royals sent Soria to the Chicago White Sox and fans were relieved. Now, however, it’s evident that the Royals made a mistake by getting rid of Soria in the final year of his contract.
For one, Soria has had a nice season so far. He has an ERA of 2.56 to go along with 16 saves. It’s worth noting that had Soria been with the Royals, he probably wouldn’t have been the closer, but it’s possible that his ERA is still impressive.
RHP Joakim Soria has been acquired from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for LHP Kodi Medeiros and RHP Wilber Pérez. pic.twitter.com/uueKGrrdG7
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2018
The second reason the Royals should have held onto ol’ Soria is because the White Sox just got a nice haul in exchange for his services. Obviously things could have been drastically different if Soria was still in Kansas City, but it stings seeing the White Sox capitalize on something on the Royals’ blunder.
Joakim Soria’s second stint with the Kansas City Royals didn’t go well and no one was all that upset with Dayton Moore for making the move at the time. Now, however, looking at how bad this bullpen has been and how much Chicago got in exchange is a tough pill to swallow.
Had the Royals just sucked it up and went on with having Soria in their bullpen, maybe they’d be adding two talented pitching prospects to their rebuilding roster. You win some, you lose some, but as of lately, it feels like all the KC Royals are doing is losing in all aspects of the game.
Should the Royals have held onto Joakim Soria for another season or was trading him the right thing to do?